Speed control means



Dec. 12,1967 MCHOLS HAL 3,357,649

SPEED CONTROL MEANS Filed Aug. 12, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS VICTOR L. NICHOLS [VA/V J G'AJPSHELIS ATTORNEY DEC. 12, 1967 \l/v NICHOLS ET AL 3,357,649

SPEED CONTROL MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 12, 1965 FIG. 3

s 5 m m H Ea N W w mm n TN A Patented Dec. 12, 1967 ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for winding 9. continuous length of textured yarn, comprising: texturing apparatus continuously dischanging, at a normally constant velocity, textured yarn into a loop; a yarn winder for continuously withdrawing, at a normally increasing velocity, yarn from the loop; a laterally tilted pair of guide rods for engaging a portion of the loop and for shifting a portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; a shutter having an extension to follow the lateral shift of the loop and to pivot the shutter in response thereto to control the intensity of a light beam to a photocell to provide an output signal, and control means receiving said signal and coupled to said winder for controlling the rotational speed of the winder, responsive to the depth of the loop, thereby maintaining the depth of the loop relatively constant.

This invention relates to speed controls, and more particularly to means for controlling the length of a loop of an elongated element which is being discharged from a source and being taken up by a receiver.

This invention is particularly adapted for use in the fiber and textile industry where a yarn or narrow fabric is discharged by a producing means and is being wound up onto storage cones or tubes. It is desirable to coordinate the linear rate of discharge with the linear rate of take up of the yarn so that the yarn neither snaps due to too short a loop, nor snarls due to too long a loop. This invention is further particularly adapted for use where it is desired not to put tension on the entire yarn, as for example, where the yarn has been textured. Such textured yarn, which may be curled or crimped, would lose much of its textured effect, if it were put under tension after texturing and before the yarn has set, since the curl would tend to stretch out, resulting in a relatively straight yarn.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a method and a means for providing a controlled loop in a continuously moving length of yarn.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rneans for measuring and controlling the depth of such a loop FIG. 4 is a top view in plan of a detail of the loop sensing fingers and shutter mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a right side view in cross-section taken along plane 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a detail of a modification of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

The invention is herein shown in an embodiment which is incorporated into the yarn texturing apparatus disclosed in the US. patent application of Victor L. Nichols and Ivan J. Garshelis, S.N. 396,957, filed Sept. 16, 1964, and assigned to a common assignee. As disclosed in that application, to which reference may be made for further details, a yarn winding assembly 12 winds one or more ends of yarn about a mandrel 14, which mandrel has a horizontally extending portion 14a which passes through a heating chamber assembly 16, and a depending distal portion 14b. The preceding turns of yarn are pushed along the mandrel by the succeeding turns, are heated in the heating chamber assembly 16 by steam, and are subsequently cooled by exposure to the atmosphere along the distal portion of the mandrel. The helically wound yarn leaves the end of the mandrel, forms a loop 18, passes through a ladder type tensioning device 20, is split up into its component yarn ends 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, and each yarn end is taken up by a respective cone winder 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d onto respective cones 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d. The cone winders are driven in synchronism by a motor 28 having a cog wheel 30 on its shaft. Each cone winder has a respective cog wheel 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d. An endless loop timing belt 34 meshes with the five cog wheels.

The yarn winding assembly rotates at a relatively constant rate, and, therefore, feeds yarn into the'loop 18 at a relatively constant linear rate. The diameter of the peripheries of the cones upon which the yarn ends are each respectively wound gradually increase in diameter. If these cones rotated at a constant rate, the yarn would be taken out of the loop 18 at a gradually increasing linear rate. While each cone has a relatively larger diameter at one of its ends and a small diameter at the other, the effect of the different diameters of the cone is disregarded as causing a negligible small cyclical variation in the take out rate, since the yarn is wound along the length of the cone in annular layers.

The ladder type tensioning device 2! serves to provide a relatively small drag on the yarn ends against which the cone winders pull to provide a regular lay down of the yarn on their cones; and also serves to provide a drag without hunting or wild fluctuations, and Without putting significant tension on the yarn.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a guide means for laterally shifting one end of a loop in a continuously moving element in response to changes in depth of the loop; and speed control means for sensing the lateral position of said one end of the loop.

These and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be made clear by the following detailed description thereof taken in conjunction with the accordpanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top view in plan of an apparatus embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view in elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a right side view in elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

against which a plurality of concurrently textured yarns may be split into individual yarn ends prior to said cone Winding. The device 20 includes a vertical support bracket .40 to which are fixed a plurality of horizontal, parallel rods. The topmost rod 42 is advantageously off-set from the remaining rods 44a, 44b 441' which are aligned in a vertical plane. The yarn as it comes out of the loop 18 is passed over the rod 42 and around and between the other rods 44a 441'. The yarn need not be passed around all of the other rods, but rather, merely the number, here shown as six, adequate to provide roughly, or almost, the required drag on the yarn. A grooved collar 46 is fixed, or rotatably mounted with some friction, By a rod to an arm 47 which is pivotally mounted to the bracket 40, and which may be clamped in position by a thumb screw 47a. Adjustment of the angle of the arm 47, and thereby of the amount of the periphery of the collar 46 which engages the yarn, which is passed thereover, will provide a fine adjustment of the total drag on the yarn.

While any number of yarn ends may be concurrently processed, the yarn is here shown to be Wound on the mandrel with four yarn ends, and this yarn is split before it is wound onto the cones. A first splitter, comprising a horizontal rod 48 with two depending pegs 50a, 50b splits the yarn into two pairs of yarn ends. A second splitter, comprising a horizontal rod 52 with four depending pegs 54a, 54b, 54c, 54d, splits the two pairs into the four yarn ends.

The speed of the motor 28 is controlled to maintain the linear rate of take out of the yarn from the loop 18 constant, or equal to the linear rate of feed in of the yarn to the loop.

The speed of the motor is made responsive to the resistance of a variable resistor. In this embodiment the motor 28 is a shunt wound DC. motor, whose speed is controlled by a full-wave speed regulator circuit 60. This circuit 60 may be of the type shown in Figure 8.33, page 145 of Silicon Controlled Rectifier Manual, Third Edition, copyright 1964 by the General Electric Company. The variable speed control resistor, therein shown as a 100 kilohm rheostat, is herein provided by photoelectric cell 62 (FIG. whose resistance varies in response to the light received thereby.

The cell 62 is mounted in housing 64 formed of an upper block 66 and a lower block 68. A bore 70 passes through the two blocks. The cell 62 is disposed in the upper portion of the bore, and a light source 72 is disposed in the lower portion of the bore. The light output of the source 72 is constant, and the source may be powered by a constant voltage supply, not shown. A cap 73 is press fitted into the bore 70 over the source 72, and has a central aperture 73a. A bore 74 passes into the two blocks, and a shaft 76 is journaled therein by antifriction bearings 78 which are spaced by a tube 77. A closed recess 79 is formed between the two blocks, which are held together by four machine screws 80. Two end plates 81a and 81b are fixed over the ends of the bore 70 to preclude the admission of light from outside the system.

A shutter 82 is disposed in the closed recess 79 and fixed to the shaft 76 by a collar 84 and a setscrew 86. A tapering radial-triangular aperture 88 is formed through the shutter. Depending on the angular position of the shutter with respect to the bore 70, the cell 62 will receive no light, a little light, or a lot of light from the light source 72, thereby varying the resistance to cell 62 for controlling the speed of the motor from full off to full on.

A collar 90 is fixed to the shaft 76 by a setscrew 92, and disposed above the block 66. Two parallel rods or arms 94 are fixed to the collar 90 and extend substantially radially therefrom. The total combination of rods 94, shaft 76 and shutter '82 has a very low inertia, the parts advantageously being made of a light weight material, such as aluminum. The distal ends of the rods 94 overlie the rod 44a and straddle the yarn passing between the rod 42 and the rod 44a. Any shift of the yarn longitudinally along the rods 42 and 44a will carry the rods 94 along therewith, and cause a rotation of the shutter 82.

Fixed to a block 100, and disposed between the mandrel 14 and the rod 42, are two rods 102, 104. As seen in FIG. 3, these rods are tilted upward to the left away from the mandrel 14. The upstream or feed in portion 18F of the loop 18 runs from the mandrel around the far side of the rod 104, to the far side of the rod 102, around the near side of the rod 102, across the near side of the rod 104 and the downstream or take-off portion runs thence to and over the rod 42. If the loop 18 is short in depth, the take-off portion 18T will wrap around the upper, leftward portion of the rod 102. If the loop 18 is long in depth, the take-off portion 1ST will Wrap around the lower, rightward portion of the rod 102. The shifting of the take-off portion 18T continues over the rods 42 and to a lesser extent over the rods 44a 441' to the collar 46 which is laterally fixed. Thus, the depth of the loop 18 controls the lateral position of the take-off portion 18T as it passes between the rods 42 and 44a,

which controls the angular position of the rods 94, which controls the angular position of the shutter 82, and which controls the light falling on the cell 62. The greater is the light, the less is the resistance of the cell and the faster is the speed of the motor.

The two guide rods 102 and 104 provide a significant bottom portion to the loop which provides relatively less abrupt bends in the loop, and, therefore, less drag on the yarn in the loop by these guide rods. However, the rod 102 will suffice to guide the loop laterally, and will be effective in the absence of the additional rod 104.

Advantageously, the two rods 102 and 104 diverge as they lead from their mounting at 100. Thus the spacing between the rods increases, and the size of the bottom portion of the loop increases, as the distance increases from the mounting 100. Thus as the loop shortens, or the depth of the loop decreases, or the bottom portion of the loop rises, the longer the bottom portion of the loop will be. Thus as the loop shortens, more of the yarn forming the loop will be in the bottom portion of the loop and the shortening of the loop will be accelerated. This accelerated shortening of the loop will accelerate the lateral shifting of the loop portion 18T, which will accelerate the response of the speed control system. As the loop shortens, the control system slows the cone winder. Conversely, as the loop lengths, less yarn is required in the bottom portion of the loops, and the lateral shifting is decelerated. Thus the control system is more sensitive in response as the loop shortens, and less sensitive in response as the loop lengthens.

The shape of the aperture 88 in the shutter 82 is advantageously made such that the system, including the light-voltage response of the detector 62 and the voltagespeed response of the motor, provides a constant percent change of speed of the motor 28 per unit of angular movement of the sensing arm 94. Such an arrangement minimizes any tendency of the system to hunt or engage in excessive speed corrections.

The control system is almost inertialess and follows the lateral movement of the yarn without causing any additional drag on the yarn.

Depending on the nature of the material making up the loop 18, more or less drag by the control system may be permissible. In any case, the system will provide much less drag than a conventional feeler arm with a weighted eye through which a loop passes to raise or lower the arm, to thereby move a sliding tap on a slidewire resistor.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the bottom of the loop will be initially low, as the cone is empty of yarn,

has a relatively small radius, and therefore requires a relatively high motor speed to remove the yarn from the loop at the constant rate at which the yarn is discharged into the loop. As the cone has yarn wound thereupon, its radius will increase, and it therefore requires a lower motor speed to remove yarn from the loop at said constant rate, and the bottom of the loop will gradually rise, until when the cone is almost full the bottom of the loop will be quite high on the guide rods.

Advantageously a medium sized loop should be maintained, that is, the bottom of the loop should be midway up on the guide rods. Thus there is enough loop to act as a buffer storage, yet not so much lop as to drag on the ground. An apparatus providing this function is shown in FIG. 6, which is an addition to the system shown in FIG. 1. Here one of the cone winders 2411 has a means for measuring the radius of the cone coupled thereto. A rectangular frame 200 is mounted adjacent the cone winder parallel to the surface of the cone. The lower part 202 of the frame is pivotally mounted to a base, as indicated at 203. The upper part of the frame has a roller 204 journalled thereon. A spring 206 is connected between one of the side parts 208 of the frame and the base, biasing the roller into peripheral abutment with the surface of the cone. A link 210 is pivotally coupled at one'end to the part 208 and at the other end to the sliding tap 212 of a rheostat. The resistance 214 of the rheostat is connected in circuit with the light source 72. Thus the radius of the cone 26a determines the swing of the frame 2%, which determines the position of the sliding tap 212, which determines the current flow to the light source and thereby its light output. This control is adjusted so that as the radius of the cone increases, the intensity of the light output decreases, thereby decreasing the speed of the motor 28. The circuit values are made such that the loop of yarn is stabilized at a substantially constant depth, with the lower part of the loop at about half way up the guide rods 102, 1104.

While there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that other forms of the invention will be obvious to one skilled in the art, and the invention is only to be limited to the extent required by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; guide means for shifting a portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of the shifted portion of the loop and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

2. Apparatus for Winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; guide means having a laterally tilted surface for engaging a portion of the loop and for shifting a portion of the loop laterally in continuous re sponse to the depth of the loop; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of the shifted portion of the loop and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

3. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; guide means having a laterally tilted surface for engaging the bottom portion of the loop and for shifting the bottom portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of a shifted portion of the loop and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

4. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; first guide means having a laterally tilted surface for engaging the bottom portion of the loop and for shifting the bottom portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; second guide means having a horizontal surface for engaging a downstream portion of the loop and along which surface this downstream portion shifts laterally in response to shifting of the bottom portion of the loop; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of a downstream portion of the loop and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

5. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; first guide means having a laterally tilted surface for engaging the bottom portion of the loop and for shifting the bottom portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; second guide means having a horizontal surface of engaging a downstream portion of the loop and along which surface this downstream portion shifts laterally in response to shifting of the bottom portion of the loop; sensing means having a vertical shaft journaled in anti-friction bearings, radial arm means fixed to said shaft and having a portion straddling a downstream portion of the loop, whereby a lateral shift of the loop causes a swing of said arm means and a responsive rotational movement of said shaft, and signal generating means coupled to said shaft for providing an output signal responsive to the rotation of said shaft; speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

6. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; first guide means having a laterally tilted surface for engaging the bottom portion of the loop and for shifting the bottom portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; second guide means having a horizontal surface for engaging a downstream portion of the loop and along which surface this downstream portion shifts laterally in response to shifting of the bottom portion of the loop; sensing means having a vertical shaft journaled in anti-friction bearings, radial arm means fixed to said shaft and having a portion straddling a downstream portion of the loop, whereby a lateral shift of the loop causes a swing of said arm means and a responsive rotational movement of said shaft; a light source and a light detector, and a shutter fixed to said shaft for modulating a beam of light from said light source to said light detector in response to the rotation of the shaft, whereby said light detector provides an output signal responsive to the rotation of said shaft; speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

7. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; a first guide means comprising two spaced apart, laterally tilted rods; a second guide means comprising two generally parallel spaced apart horizontal rods; the loop passing from said source around the far side of one of said tilted rods, to and around the far side of the other of said tilted rods, to and over the near side of said one of said tilted rods, and to and around the two horizontal rods, and ultimately to said re ceiver, the loop shifting up and down along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop and thereby also shifting laterally along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop, and the loop shifting laterally along said horizontal rods in response to its shifting laterally along said tilted rods; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of the loop adjacent said horizontal bars and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

8. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; a first guide means comprising two spaced apart, laterally tilted rods; a second guide means comprising two generally parallel spaced apart horizontal rods; the loop passing from said source around the far side of one of said tilted rods, to and around the far side of the other of said tilted rods, to and over the near side of said one of said tilted rods, and to and around the two horizontal rods, and ultimately to said receiver, the loop shifting up and down along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop and thereby also shifting laterally along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop, and the loop shifting laterally along said horizontal rods in response to its shifting laterally along said tilted rods; sensing means having a vertical shaft journaled in anti-friction bearings, radial arm means fixed to said shaft and having a portion straddling a downstream portion of the loop, whereby a lateral shift of the loop causes a swing of said arm means and a responsive rotational movement of said shaft, a light source and a light detector, and a shutter fixed to said shaft for modulating a beam of light from said light source to said light detection responsive to the rotation of said shaft; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

9. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of yarn, comprising: a source of yarn for continuously discharging yarn into a loop; a yarn winder for continuously withdrawing the yarn from the loop; guide means having a laterally tilted under surface for engaging a portion of the loop and for shifting a portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of the shifted portion of the loop and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to said yarn winder for controlling the rotational speed thereof responsive to the depth of the loop.

10. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop; a first guide means comprising two spaced apart and diverging, laterally tilted rods; a second guide means comprising two generally parallel spaced apart horizontal rods, the loop passing from said source around the far side of one of said tilted rods, to and around the far side of the other of said tilted rods, to and over the near side of said one of said tilted rods, and to and around the two horizontal rods, and ultimately to said receiver, the loop shifting up and down along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop and thereby also shifting laterally along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop, and the loop shifting laterally along said horizontal rods in response to its shifting laterally along said tilted rods, the length of the bottom portion of the loop between said tilted rods increasing as the depth of the loop decreases, and the length of the bottom portion decreasing as the depth of the loop increases; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of the loop adjacent said horizontal bars and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from the loop responsive to the depth of the loop.

11. Apparatus for Winding a continuous length of a flexible member, comprising: a source of the member for continuously discharging the member into a loop; a receiver of the member for continuously withdrawing the member from the loop, said means having a rotating means for winding the member; a first guide means comprising two spaced apart, laterally tilted rods; a second guide means comprising two generally parallel spaced apart horizontal rods; the loop passing from said source around the far side of one of said tilted rods, to and around the far side of the other of said tilted rods, to and over the near side of said one of said tilted rods and to and around the two horizontal rods, and ultimately to said receiver, the loop shifting up and down along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop and thereby also shifting laterally along said tilted rods in response to the depth of the loop, and the loop shifting laterally along said horizontal rods in response to its shifting laterally along said tilted rods; sensing means having a vertical shaft journaled in anti-friction bearings, a radial arm fixed to said shaft and straddling a downstream portion of the loop, whereby a lateral shift of the loop causes a swing of the arm and a responsive rotational movement of said shaft, a light source and a light detector, and a shutter fixed to said shaft for modulating a beam of light from said light source to said light detection responsive to the rotation of the shaft, an additional sensing means, for sensing a change in the radius of said rotating means of said receiver, said additional sensing means being coupled in circuit with said light source for causing the light output of said source to vary in response to changes in said radius of said rotating means of said receiver, whereby said light detector provides an output signal responsive to both the rotation of said shaft and said radius of said rotating means; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to one of the group consisting of said source and said receiver of the member for controlling the rate of discharge into or withdrawal from-the loop responsive to the depth of the loop, thereby maintaining the depth of the loop relatively constant.

12. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of yarn comprising: a source of yarn for continuously discharging yarn into a loop; a yarn winder for continuously withdrawing the yarn from the loop; guide means having a laterally tilted under surface for engaging a portion of the loop and for shifting a portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; sensing means for continuously following the lateral position of the shifted portion of the loop and for continuously following the increase in the radius of the wound-on yarn on said cone winder and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom and coupled to said yarn winder for controlling the rotational speed thereof responsive to the depth of the loop, thereby maintaining the depth of the loop relatively constant.

13. Apparatus for winding a continuous length of a flexible member received in the form of a loop from a source of supply of said member, said apparatus comprising: a yarn winder for continuously withdrawing the 9 1 0 yarn from the loop; guide means having a laterally tilted References Cited under surface tor engaging a portion of the loop and for UNITED STATES PATENTS shiftlng a portion of the loop laterally in continuous response to the depth of the loop; sensing means for con- 2214355 9/1940 Tlsehu? et 242*75-51 tinuously following the lateral position of the shifted por- 5 213171290 4/1943 Mcnvned 242 45 2,741,437 4/1956 Haworth 242-45 tion of the loop and for providing an output signal responsive thereto; and speed control means coupled to said sensing means for receiving the output signal therefrom STANLEY GILREATH Pmna'y Examme and coupled to said yarn Winder for controlling the rota- N. L. MINTZ, Assistant Examiner.

tional speed thereof responsive to the depth of the loop. 10 

1. APPARATUS FOR WINDING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF A FLEXIBLE MEMBER, COMPRISING: A SOURCE OF THE MEMBER FOR CONTINUOUSLY DISCHARGING THE MEMBER INTO A LOOP; A RECEIVER OF THE MEMBER FOR CONTINUOUSLY WITHDRAWING THE MEMBER FROM THE LOOP; GUIDE MEANS FOR SHIFTING A PORTION OF THE LOOP LATERALLY IN CONTINUOUS RESPONSE TO THE DEPTH OF THE LOOP; SENSING MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FOLLOWING THE LATERAL POSITION OF THE SHIFTED PORTION OF THE LOOP AND FOR PROVIDING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL RESPONSIVE THERETO; AND SPEED CONTROL MEANS COUPLED TO SAID SENSING MEANS FOR RECEIVING THE OUTPUT SIGNAL THEREFROM AND COUPLED TO ONE OF THE GROUP CONSISTING OF SAID SOURCE AND SAID RECEIVER OF THE MEMBER FOR CONTROLLING THE RATE OF DISCHARGE INTO OF WITHDRAWAL FROM THE LOOP RESPONSIVE TO THE DEPTH OF THE LOOP. 